My buddy Pete, from Columbia, SC, say’s to tell y’all that The Palmetto State placed 11 courses in the new Golf Digest rankings, followed by California with nine.
Florida and North Carolina had five each. The rankings are based on extensive criteria established by Golf Digest and used by hundreds of expert golfers to assess each course. They appear in the May 2009 issue of the magazine now on the stands.
I’m not an expert golfer, I guess, ’cause they didn’t ask me 😉
The highest ranked South Carolina course on the list was The Ocean Course at Kiawah Island, ranked number four. Kiawah Island Golf Resort also had another course on the list, Turtle Point at No. 48.
Harbour Town Golf Links on Hilton Head Island was ranked No. 13, while the May River Golf Club at Palmetto Bluff was ranked No. 22.
Six of the eleven courses are on the Grand Strand, home to more than 100 courses and one of the world’s most popular golf destinations. They are The Heritage Club at Pawleys Island (No. 33), the Dunes Golf & Beach Club in Myrtle Beach (No. 38), Tidewater Golf Course & Plantation at North Myrtle Beach (No. 41), Caledonia Golf & Fish Club at Pawleys Island (No. 66), the Resort Club at Grande Dunes in Myrtle Beach (No. 77) and a pair of courses at Barefoot Resort & Golf Club in North Myrtle Beach – the Fazio layout at No. 96 and the Dye course at No. 99.
There are more than 380 golf courses in South Carolina. The S.C. Department of Parks, Recreation & Tourism maintains a Web site specifically targeted to golfers at www.SouthCarolinaGolf.com, along with the state’s
official general tourism site at www.DiscoverSouthCarolina.com.
Personally, I trained in Fort Jackson, SC, in June, July and August, with a small Ranger Battallion and I would advise you not to do the same.
Instead, Play Golf America!
If you’d like to search for particular golf courses, The Golf Channel has a golf course finder available.